I'll cut fares by 7%, Ken Livingstone pledges

Ken Livingstone today sensationally promised to slash London fares by an average of seven per cent in the battle for City Hall.

Labour's mayoral candidate changed his campaign plan to cut transport prices by far more than expected. He said it would wipe out Boris Johnson's planned rises and save Londoners £1,000 each over four years.

He is aiming to exploit the Mayor's weakness on transport after a Standard poll revealed that 70 per cent of voters are not prepared to pay higher fares to fund improvements. Mr Livingstone announced plans to reverse Mr Johnson's near-six per cent rise if he becomes Mayor next year saying: "The choice could not be clearer. I have promised to cut the fares to help reduce the squeeze on ordinary Londoners. Boris Johnson has promised to keep raising fares over the next four years."

Mr Livingstone originally promised to cut fares by five per cent. But today he increased the offer in response to a £136 million package for London transport designed to "help Boris" which was unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne last week.

Today Mr Livingstone said he would also address the spiralling cost of bus travel by taking the price of a single journey back to last year's prices, a cut of more than 10 per cent.

Mr Livingstone said: "I am setting out how I will deliver the change that people are calling for."

Mr Johnson claims that his fare increases are necessary to fund his "unprecedented" improvement programme on the Tube network. A Standard poll last week revealed that although Mr Johnson has an eight-point lead in the election race, he is weak on transport. The ComRes poll found 37 per cent of Londoners do not think the Tube has improved under Mr Johnson and that 70 per cent are not prepared to pay more to fund improvements.

The Mayor has described Mr Livingstone's fare proposals as "ludicrous". The Labour candidate claims he will be able to fund his huge fares cut by raiding the "operating surplus" budget sitting in Transport for London's coffers.

But the Mayor says that budget cuts mean the cash Mr Livingstone is referring to has already been spent. Mr Livingstone said today: "Last week Boris Johnson failed to deliver the fares cut Londoners want and need, despite huge popular pressure for lower fares. He was told Londoners wanted a cut, but he stuck with a rise.

"I want to use the excess money that is sitting idle in Transport for London's budget to fund a fare cut. My seven per cent fare cut overall, with an additional bus fare cut, is a costed and affordable plan that puts the interests of Londoners first." The Mayor last week announced that from January, Tube and bus fares will go up by an average of 5.6 per cent. He said: "It would be criminal to cut infrastructure investment."

A source close to the Mayor said: "Londoners aware of Ken Livingstone's record of pre-election fare cuts and post-election hikes will know that this package is as incredible as it is unsustainable."

"He cannot offer cuts like this without explaining which buses, trains and critical improvement to our transport infrastructure he would abandon."

A spokesman for Boris Johnson's re-election campaign said: "It is the same old Ken Livingstone. He promises one thing before an election when he needs Londoners' votes but what he does after is another story.

"Before the 2004 mayoral election he repeatedly promised Londoners he would not raise fares above inflation. But having been voted back in he repeatedly broke his promise, making a series of inflation-busting fare increases. Before the 2008 election he promised Londoners he would freeze fares despite having already secretly agreed to above inflation increases - again breaking his promise.

"He knows his numbers don't add up on this - he has already changed them once. Ken Livingstone simply can't be trusted with Londoners' money."

A TfL spokesperson said: "There is no surplus and every penny of TfL's budget is accounted for to pay for the essential operation and upgrade of the transport system. Any major loss of revenue would have a damaging impact on work to improve the journeys of our passengers and our ability to cope with unprecedented demand for our services."